Rationalization: The Enemy of Integrity

Jonah Goldberg

Dear Reader (including those of you who feel unduly entitled to a fresh Dear Reader gag every week),

Because I am a human — no, really — I have a tendency to rationalize all sorts of bad decisions and habits.

“I couldn’t let the chicken wings go to waste.”

“Lite beer doesn’t count.”

I think, to one extent or another, everyone does this kind of thing. The trick is to keep it within healthy parameters. If you find yourself heading into Bad Idea Jeans territory — “Normally, I wear protection, but then I thought, ‘When am I going to make it back to Haiti?’” — it’s always best to take step back.

Usually, even when your decision tree goes awry, these kinds of rationalizations only penalize you. But, of course, rationalizations can hurt others, too. The road to adultery is mostly paved with rationalizations of one kind or another. Most bad parenting, likewise, is grounded in rationalizations of sloth, selfishness, and even ...

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The Russia ‘Fake News’ Scare Is All about Chilling Speech

David Harsanyi

Last week, Republicans began to call for the release of a memo authored by House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes that purports to lay out a series of abuses connected to the FBI...

California’s Soft Secession Accelerates

David French

California’s Soft Secession Accelerates

The White House’s Welcome Proposal on Immigration

The Editors

The White House released an immigration proposal yesterday and we are not ready to rummage through the office to find a MAGA hat to burn. The proposal is not entirely to our liking, but it is...

The Fight for School Choice Is Far from Over

Ted Cruz

This week, Americans are celebrating National School Choice Week, a time to raise awareness about the educational options available to families and to advocate for giving them even more choice....

Trump’s Tariffs Are Statism on the March

Jonah Goldberg

The Trump administration is now moving to put some teeth on its promise to punish “unfair” trade from China and other countries. This week it imposed punitive tariffs on Chinese and South Korean...

The Pension Crisis Is Starting to Hit Home. School Choice Might Be the Only Answer.

Lewis M. Andrews

Talk to the people of Illinois about America’s looming public-pension crisis, and they’ll tell you it’s not looming — it’s already here. This month, a statute went into effect giving Comptroller...

Money Changes Everything: How Finance Made Civilization Possible

William Goetzmann

"If anyone had told me that someone could write coherently and intelligently about Karl Marx, cuneiform tablets, the South Sea bubble, the opium trade, and David's painting Death of Marat between a single set of covers, I would have shaken my head in disbelief. This book accomplishes precisely this . . . A thrilling read."

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